The Hidden Staircase Mystery Books recently updated its list of March 2012 hardcover mysteries as well as shelved new March paperbacks on The Mystery Bookshelf. In this series of monthly posts, which we call Firsts on the 1st, we're introducing readers to new series characters who will make their mysterious American debut in print during March. (Purchase options include Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble, and the iTunes iBookstore, which are indicated by icons under the cover image.)
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Title: The Cop With the Pink Pistol Author: Gray Basnight Series Character: Donna Prima Format: Trade Paperback What we know about the character: Maria Donnatella "Donna" Prima is an NYPD homicide detective. Her first case: She doesn't do jiggle. She isn't into shoes or jewelry. She doesn't wear makeup (or, as she calls it, war paint). Donna's sole concession to modern womanhood is the pink .38 she wears strapped to her ankle. Not that she has much opportunity to use it, having been demoted to desk duty for a serious infraction of NYPD regulations. On a routine burglary follow-up in Greenwich Village, Donna meets soap-opera actor Conner Anderson (Crawford on the top-rated Vampire Love Nest), who alerts her to some strange goings-on in a liquor store across the street. Sick of being chained to her desk, Donna decides to investigate. Meanwhile, the Feds need her help on a cold murder case as they investigate a theft from a nuclear power plant. But would-be detective Conner Anderson wants to come along for the ride. And Donna, an Italian-American from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, can't deny the mutual chemistry she feels with this Southern WASP from Tupelo, Mississippi. Will taking on Conner as a civilian partner be the start of something beautiful or the biggest mistake of Donna's life?
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Title: Murder Buys a T-Shirt Author: Christy Fifield Series: Glory Martine, Haunted Souvenir Shop Format: Mass Market Paperback What we know about the character: Glory Martine owns a haunted souvenir shop in Florida. Her first case: Glory has inherited her uncle's Florida souvenir shop, one stuffed with collectibles, mementos of times gone by — and ghosts — who, like her customers, refuse to let go of the past. But things take an even more unexpected turn when a local football hero dies far too suddenly and suspiciously. Now, Glory has to uncover the truth before someone makes her history …
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Title: Blue Monday Author: Nicci French Series Character: Frieda Klein Format: Hardcover What we know about the character: Frieda Klein is a psychotherapist in London. Her first case: Frieda is a solitary, incisive woman, who spends her sleepless nights walking along the ancient rivers that have been forced underground in modern London. She believes that the world is a messy, uncontrollable place, but what we can control is what is inside our heads. This attitude is reflected in her own life, which is an austere one of refuge, personal integrity, and order. The abduction of five-year-old Matthew Farraday provokes a national outcry and a desperate police hunt. And when his face is splashed over the newspapers, Frieda cannot ignore the coincidence: one of her patients has been having dreams in which he has a hunger for a child. A red-haired child he can describe in perfect detail, a child the spitting image of Matthew. She finds herself in the center of the investigation, serving as the reluctant sidekick of the chief inspector.
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Title: Adrift on St. John Author: Rebecca M. Hale Series: Pen Hofstra, Mystery in the Islands Format: Mass Market Paperback What we know about the character: Pen Hofstra is the manager of a resort in the US Virgin Islands. Her first case: No one knows better than Pen that the idea of a tropical paradise is an illusion. So when a young woman named Hannah Sheridan disappears off the island of St. John, she is not surprised that all is not what it seems to be. Pointing out Hannah's resemblance to the Amina Slave Princess from the 1733 slave revolt on St. John — whose ghost is rumored to haunt the island — the local community quickly latches on to the belief that her spirit is behind the sinking … and the disappearance …
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Title: Death of a Kitchen Diva Author: Lee Hollis Series: Hayley Powell, Food and Cocktails Format: Mass Market Paperback What we know about the character: Hayley Powell is a food writer in Bar Harbor, Maine. Her first case: Single mum Hayley Powell is barely keeping her leaking roof over her head when her boss at the "Island Times" gives her a new assignment — taking over the paper's food column. Hayley's not sure she has the chops — she's an office manager, not a writer, even if her friends clamour for her mouth-watering potluck dishes. But the extra income is tempting, and Hayley's chatty first column is suddenly on everyone's menu — with one exception. When rival food writer Karen Appelbaum is found face-down dead in a bowl of Hayley's creamy clam chowder, all signs point to Hayley. To clear her name, she'll have to enlist some help, including her BFFs, a perpetually pregnant lobster woman, and a glamorous real estate agent. As she whips up a list of suspects, Hayley discovers a juicy secret about the victim — and finds herself in a dangerous mix with a cold-blooded killer.
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Title: Nights of Awe Author: Harri Nykanen Series Character: Ariel Kafka Format: Trade Paperback What we know about the character: Ariel Kafka is an inspector in the Violent Crime Unit of the Helsinki police and one of only two Jewish policemen in Finland. His first case: During the period known as the Days of Awe that lead up to Yom Kippur, Ariel Kafka is confronted with the most difficult case of his career. Two Arabs are killed near the capital and shortly after Kafka discovers two more bodies at an Iraqi-owned garage. Are these deaths evidence of gang warfare or international terrorism? When it transpires that an Israeli minister will make an unofficial visit to Helsinki, matters become truly complicated. The Finnish Security Police and Mossad all have a role to play and Kafka is on a trail that leads back to his youth.
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Title: Little Shop of Homicide Author: Denise Swanson Series: Dev Sinclair, Devereaux's Dime Store Format: Mass Market Paperback What we know about the character: Devereaux Sinclair is the owner of the old-fashioned shop in her small Missouri town. Her first case: When Devereaux is accused of murder by champagne bottle and high heel shoe, she needs to find the real killer before a cop with a score to settle turns her store in a Little Shop of Horrors and puts her out of business for good.
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Title: Mako Author: Clabe Taylor Series Character: Mako Sloane Format: Trade Paperback What we know about the character: Mako Sloane is a retired CIA operative. His first case: Mako Sloane is a CIA legend, but his dizzying rise to stardom in Moscow is matched by his precipitous fall from grace after he discovers a secret that vested interests in both Russia and the U.S. want to keep quiet. Ten years after Mako's mysterious disappearance, investigative reporter Max Crandall is writing Sloane's unauthorized biography. Max's research inadvertently dredges up ghosts from the past, and he finds himself the target of a manhunt as unidentified operatives try to derail his project. Max lures Mako out of self-imposed exile, and the two discover the truth behind a bizarre conspiracy that threatens to send the world spiraling into a superpower confrontation of unprecedented proportions.
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For a list of more hardcover mysteries scheduled for publication during March, please visit our New Mysteries home page. If you're interested in new paperbacks, visit The Mystery Bookshelf, where you can discover a library of new mysteries, also updated with March 2012 releases. See also our regularly updated eBook site for new mysteries, suspense novels and thrillers, MysterEbooks.com.
Please also visit the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books where we are committed to providing readers and collectors of mystery books with the best and most current information about their favorite authors, titles, and series.
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